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University of Oklahoma Libraries Western History Collections
CHEROKEE NATION MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS
Hewes, Leslie (1906-1999) Papers 1901-1912, 1928-1998 11.3 foot
Geography professor. Research notes and township maps (ca. 1937) of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, on which Hewes plotted the following data: which groups (categorized by degree of Indian blood, intermarried citizens, or freedmen) settled which allotments, along with the classification of these allotments and the appraised value per acre of each. Hewes used the information included on these maps to write his dissertation, “The Geography of the Cherokee Country of Oklahoma,” at the University of California in 1940. Also included are research files (1928-1998), maps (1921-1987), and correspondence relating to Hewes’ teaching and publications; research notes and data on the geography and agriculture of the Central Great Plains, irrigation, and land fencing; lecture notes from geography classes taught by Hewes and class notes taken by Hewes as a graduate student; biographical and other materials related to Hewes’ professional career and studies at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Oklahoma.
Leslie Hewes Collection
Geography professor Leslie Hewes was born February 25, 1906, near Guthrie, Oklahoma. Hewes attended Guthrie High School, from which he graduated in 1924, and subsequently received a B.A. in geography from the University of Oklahoma in 1928. His Ph.D. in geography was completed in 1940 at the University of California at Berkeley with his dissertation, The Geography of the Cherokee Country of Oklahoma. Hewes began his career as a Teaching Fellow and Field Assistant in Mexico with the University of California (1929-1932). He was a member of the faculty of the Department of Geography at the University of Oklahoma (1932-1945) and the University of Nebraska (1945-1974), and served as the Chair of the Department of Geography at the University of Nebraska from 1946 to 1968. In addition to his long-term faculty appointments, Hewes also lectured at other colleges and universities, including Flinders University, the University of Vienna, and Louisiana State University. Hewes published numerous books and articles on northern and central plains geography, including The Suitcase Farming Frontier (1973), The Oklahoma Ozarks as the Land of the Cherokees (1942), “Wheat Failure in Western Nebraska,” and “The Northern Wet Prairie of the United States.” Hewes retired from teaching in 1974.
Extent: 12 c.f.
Dates: 1901-1999
Scope and content: This collection includes professional correspondence (1930-1998), publications and research (1931-1999), university course materials (1928-1974), student materials (1923-1940), personal papers (1934-1997), and maps and diagrams (1901-1983) related to the research and teaching career of Dr. Leslie Hewes, professor emeritus of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Department of Geography.